[Hyde POV]
That same Monday, I checked my account online after getting the teller book.
It showed that I had $50, both in the booklet and on the translucent display panel.
I blinked. "This banking system… whatever it was… is shockingly easy."
In fact, it reminded me of the banking apps from the future. Not the clunky American ones, but the Asian ones that were actually good.
"I don't know what this 'Online Bank' system is supposed to be, but it's ridiculously simple. Honestly? It's cleaner and easier than most U.S. banking apps back in my time."
American banking apps were always behind. Everything took five screens, and if you wanted to pay someone, you needed CashApp, or PayPal, or Venmo, or Zelle—and half the time the bank didn't link properly.
But this thing?
This felt like the Alipay/Lazada/GrabPay ecosystem without the brand names.
Instant transfer
One-touch checkout
Balance updating in real time
No extra apps needed
The whole system worked like someone had combined my bank, my shopping, and my payments into one smooth machine.
If I wanted to buy something?
I tapped it, confirmed, and it was paid instantly straight from my balance.
No juggling apps. No linking cards. No stupid "processing" screens.
Just buy → done.
"Man… this is basically the Asian system I used to dream the American banks would copy, but they never did."
Asia adopted mobile banking earlier and more aggressively.
Their governments pushed unified QR standards, and most countries had fewer banks, less legacy software, and no massive credit-card lobby blocking progress.
With no 50–year-old COBOL systems anchoring them to the past, upgrading was faster and cheaper.
Meanwhile, the U.S. banking ecosystem was too fragmented—thousands of banks, each with its own rules and ancient technology—and too influenced by payment companies that profit from keeping everything complicated.
So while Asia leapt ahead with clean, universal systems, America stayed stuck patching old machinery with new apps.
For someone who travelled a lot to multiple different countries after I became a millionaire, I have to say that America was lagging behind in these sectors.
"Hmm… Why is there a lightbulb option?"
Before I could open my shopping apps, I saw the lightbulb icon on the downleft corner of the screen.
It was the same bulbs the system gave me before, only this time, I had to pay for it.
[11W LED Bulb ~ $1.50]
[27W LED Bulb~ $2.50]
"Is this the value?" I muttered with furrowed brows. " I have 1000 of the 11W ones, so that means, I have a free $1500?"
If I could sell everything, that would've been awesome.
"Bob." I approached the store owner. "I want to talk to you about something."
Bob smiled and said, "Sure. Are there any problems at the bank?"
"No. There's no problem." I reached into my bag and took out a small box. "I want to talk to you about this."
"A bulb?" Bob was curious
"Not just any bulb." I took him to the lamps area and plugged the bulb into one of the standing lamps there. As I turned it on, Bob saw the white glow of the bulb.
"Oh. They finally made a cool light bulb?" Bob asked with intrigue.
"Not only that," I said, holding the lit lamp between us. "This thing pulls just eleven watts. That's almost a fifth of what a normal bulb uses."
Bob squinted at it. "Eleven? Does it even light up a room?"
"Try it."
I pointed at the lamp next to it—the old 60-watt incandescent.
He flipped back and forth.
The LED was brighter. Cleaner. Whiter.
Bob's eyebrows slowly climbed. "Huh… it is brighter."
I nodded and continued, "People right now go through one bulb a month. One. Because these crappy incandescents burn out constantly. They're paying sixty cents every month just to power the thing, and another sixty cents buying replacements."
Bob shrugged. "Yeah, that's the business. People always come back."
"Exactly," I said. "But look at this."
I pointed at the LED box. It said it lasted 25,000 hours.
"With this bulb, they'll only pay eleven cents per month in electricity. Eleven. And the bulb lasts years. That means an entire year of lighting costs them about a buck and change, instead of buying twelve bulbs and paying for electricity for each."
Bob frowned. "So I sell one bulb a year instead of twelve? Steven… that means less money for me."
"Normally? Yes," I said. "If every other store in Wisconsin were selling it too."
I leaned in. "But they're not."
Bob blinked. His face turned serious instantly. "What do you mean no one's selling it?"
"These bulbs aren't even supposed to be in the Midwest yet," I lied smoothly.
"I got them through a guy in New York who stocks imports before they hit the chain stores. If you move fast, you can be the only store in Wisconsin carrying these."
He would be the only store carrying these, since I was the only supplier.
Bob crossed his arms. "The only store in the whole state…?"
"Think about it," I said cheekily. "Right now you stock one hundred incandescents a month and barely move them. Every hardware store in town carries the exact same thing. You're all fighting over pennies."
Bob winced because it was true. His profit margin was 10 cents per bulb. He sold 100 of them, he got 10 dollars per month. So bulbs weren't an important product in his store in the first place.
"But this?" I tapped the LED bulb. "This gives you exclusivity. You're not competing with six stores in Point Place and twenty stores in Kenosha. You're selling something no one else has even heard of yet."
Bob's hesitation started to melt. I kept pushing.
"You stock 1,000 of these, you're not selling to the usual walk-ins. You're selling to people driving from Milwaukee, Racine, Madison. The moment word gets around that Bob's Hardware has bulbs that cut electricity bills by 80%? Families will come here for the savings alone."
Bob scratched his head. "How much profit are we talking about?"
I held up the box. "I can get them for around a dollar fifty. You sell them for three. That's a dollar fifty cents profit per bulb."
His eyes widened slowly. "A dollar and fifty cents… times a thousand…"
"One-point-five thousand dollars," I said softly. "On bulbs. Just bulbs."
Bob sucked in a breath.
"And when customers save six dollars a year per light fixture, they're gonna want one in every room. Kitchens, bathrooms, basements, porches. That's repeat business, but not because the bulb burns out—because they want the savings."
Bob stared at the glowing lamp again. "Show me the numbers." He asked.
"Gladly. This is also a marketing angle, so you can use this for the radio station."
I took out a pen and paper. Then, I calculated the energy savings per year for those who used the bulbs.
"One bulb would save around 6 dollars. A house used around 20 of these. So not only did they save the cost of going through the bulbs in a year– which was 4.2 dollars, it also added around 80-100 bucks in electricity."
"…Steven," he said finally, "We need to buy it now."
"Great. I can get you 1000 bulbs today if you want. We can test it out first. And with these, we can also do a sales campaign for the appliances."
"Hmm? What kind of campaign?" Bob raised an eyebrow.
"Free bulb with every 30 dollars worth of purchase."
"Great Idea!" Bob agreed instantly. "Put the orders in today. I will give a check–"
"Oh Bob. The guy will only take cash today. Since he's in a different state, he will not be able to cash it out before he needs to go back home." I interjected.
Bob paused for a while. For an ordinary store owner, they might think this was a scam.
But Bob being Bob, he smiled and said, "Alright. I will take out fifteen hundred today!"
I celebrated inwardly. Charlie looked at me with jealousy from afar. He wanted to know what we were talking about.
Foot traffic in the store increased tenfold when Bob told everyone about the new bulb. It happened on the same day, which surprised me a little.
Bob gave me the 1500 dollars, and I led him to his own storeroom where I had already put in the bulbs there.
He already sold 300 of those in just one day. It was honestly really surprising– not that the bulbs were something people wanted, but Bob being capable at marketing it properly and how many friends he has.
The bulbs didn't flicker, nor did they buzz. So it was a huge selling point too. One person bought 10-20 of those bulbs, that's why it was unloaded quickly.
"I can make a poster, and flyers for this." I told him after discussing the sales campaign. This weekend, there will be a sale at Bargain Bob. A clearance sale.
"I just need 200 bucks." I added carefully.
Bob grinned and gave me 200 dollars from the profit he made today. "Alright. I'll leave it to you." He said casually.
Maybe since people who came by didn't really just buy the bulbs, they added on some batteries, and many were even influenced by the 'Good, Better, Best' tagline, which made 12 toasters to be sold.
Bob even talked some people into getting new lamps with the bulbs. And I managed to sell a fridge to a middle aged housewife who came by looking for a pot.
The total commission I have so far, 35 dollars. The fridge alone gave me almost 20 dollars. It would be paid at the end of the week.
"Hyde, this is the first time I've ever seen this many people in my store in January." Bob guffawed as he slapped my back. I think he wanted to pat it, but every hand swing really hurts.
I went to the bank during my break and deposited 1700 dollars. The teller raised an eyebrow, but he didn't question it.
"Alright. Now, I can finally live like a human being."
I have 1700 dollars in my account. The first thing I did was to buy a used laptop and a DSLR. I took the money from Bob to do the flyers.
I checked online, and there's a printing shop in Thailand that would charge me only 150 dollars for 5000 pages of one sided flyers. 250 if I wanted it to be double sided.
It was within the budget from the money Bob gave me. The DSLR and the desktop, since I could use them for a lot of things, I just chalked it off to future business deals costs.
I also contemplated buying my own printer, but for flyers, it was much cheaper for me to use a printing service than to print out 5000 pages on my own.
Maybe I would buy one for marketing purposes. Showing initial design to Bob, getting his approval before doing it on a big scale.
"Hmm?" As I wanted to pay for the used laptop, which was a 250 dollars Asus refurbished laptop with 16gb ram and 512 gb storage, the system notification popped up.
[Would you like to pay 50 dollars to LAZADA online?]
"50 bucks?" I was confused. The price was 250 dollars.
"Wait. Don't tell me… Inflation factor?"
A huge grin spread on my face.
"1 dollar of 1977 money… is worth 5 dollars in 2025 money."
The internet system stopped at noon, so I have to wait to actually spend the money.
…
That night, when the store was closing. Bob counted his profit from today. He already sold half of the bulbs in just one day, by word of mouth alone.
He had already recouped his cost in just one day.
"Steven. I think we need to order 2000 more of these to make it through this weekend campaign." Bob said. "I just need to pay after I get the bulbs, right?"
I gulped secretly. "Alright. I'll put in the order."
Bob chuckled and said, "Oh. By the way, how much money have you pocketed from this?"
"Hmm?" I was slightly taken aback. Bob laughed and said, "Don't worry. I'm not mad. In fact, it will be stupid of you not to take your own cut. So, how much? 10 cents? 20 cents per bulb."
My eyes widened in shock. "I fucking forgot." I cursed. Bob was taken aback, then he laughed out loud.
"Alright then. Here." He gave me 100 dollars. "Consider this your cut."
"Nice. Thanks Bob." I said simply. Bob laughed and asked, "Do you need a ride home?"
"No. I have to deliver the fridge tonight, so I'll be using your truck." I shook my head slightly.
"Alright. You can use it tonight, but you'll have to give it back tomorrow." he said sternly.
I nodded in understanding. Victoria came by earlier and really bought a fridge. She wanted me to deliver it to her house tonight.
I loaded up the fridge and drove the truck to her house. It sat at the very edge of town, a large farmhouse surrounded by sprawling fields that rolled out in every direction.
She lived in the next neighborhood before, but she moved into her husband's house after getting married.
A thick line of cypress and oaks framed the property, their shadows stretching across the yard as the sun dipped lower.
The driveway wound past a weathered barn and a small pond before finally reaching the house.
"Hey." I greeted her as I got down the truck. She was waiting by the door, wearing only a pink nightie.
"Hey." She replied seductively. "Are you sure you can lift the fridge yourself?" She asked, her eyes flickering with concern.
"Yeah." I replied. I could just put it in my storage system and take it out in her kitchen, but to do that, I have to make her go away for a bit.
"Where is your kitchen?" I asked.
"Just down the hall to the left." She replied. "Do you want some beer?"
"Sure." I took her offer easily. The legal age for drinking beer here was 18 years old, so I didn't care much about it. In fact, I had been drinking beer since I was 15.
In the mid-west, and especially in the 70s, people didn't care as much about government regulation.
As she went inside, I stored the fridge into the system storage and put it on the truck dolley. It was really easy to bring the fridge into the house as I just needed to push it there.
The fridge in the 70s wasn't really big as the ones in 2025, so it was easy to carry.
I helped her set it up in the kitchen and even graciously took the old ones with me to throw away.
As I stored the old one in the storage system, the label intrigued me.
[3 years old fridge. Minimal paint chipping. Works Perfectly.]
I turned to Victoria who was sitting slightly leaning on the couch, rubbing lotion on her bare legs. She batted her big, pretty eyes at me and patted the seat next to her, gesturing for me to sit.
'Ho-ho, I'm going to get some.'
I locked eyes with her as I sat down. Victoria smiled and looked forward embarrassedly.
"Before we start, I need to make sure I have enough." Victoria reached for her drawer.
"Oh, I have some too." I reached into my pocket.
I took out a pack of condoms.
She took out two bible books.
"What?"
"What?!"
Both of us were shocked.
Victoria was frazzled, "Co-Condoms? We're not–"
"Wait. Why did you call me here?" I asked, confused.
"Um…" She pointed at the stack of books. "We're two sinners whose lives got turned upside down. My husband left, and your mom left. I make you come here so we can pray together… so maybe God forgives us."
"Oh…" I nodded slowly. "I thought you called me here so I could show you how a husband is supposed to love you."
"You—Hyde! Get out!" She slapped my arm, cheeks flaring red. I laughed under my breath.
"Relax. I'm joking. If you need to pray, or talk… I'm here."
Only then did I notice her living room was basically her bedroom now—pillows, lotions, clothes everywhere.
She hadn't gone upstairs in a long time. The house was freezing, the floors squeaked without anyone walking, and pans rattled in the empty kitchen.
No wonder she slept down here.
"I'm not sleeping with you," Victoria warned, narrowing her eyes. "I'm a married woman."
"I know," I said calmly. "And I respect that."
Something softened in her expression. She opened the Bible, still flustered, but she let me stay close while she prayed.
Afterward, I asked how her life had been.
She told me everything. She was sent to church camp after her dad knew what she did with me. The nuns there called her a sinner relentlessly.
The man in his 30s who offered to marry her. The rushed wedding. The pressure. The loneliness.
She showed me wedding photos. Her smile was bright, but her eyes weren't.
"That's John," she said flatly. "He cried through the whole thing."
"Who's John?" I asked, confused. "And why is he crying?"
"I don't know." Victoria replied with a shrug. "He cried the entire time. When I caught my husband staring at him, he looked like he was going to cry too. I guess it has something to do with them living together for 10 years. They are really really good friends."
"Hmm?" I began to feel a bit weird. She yawned a bit and leaned her head on my shoulder.
"Sometimes, I felt like John was his wife instead of me." She laughed self-depricatingly. "He even went to California with John."
I noticed that John and the husband were holding hands in one of the photos.
'Don't tell me… Is this why he was crying on their wedding night?'
I turned to Victoria to tell her my suspicion, but I found she was already asleep.
She nuzzled her head close and wrapped her arms around my torso. I could still go back home, but it would wake her up.
I stayed.
I worked quietly when my system came online, and I fell asleep beside her too since I had a busy day.
Around the crack of dawn, she opened her eyes. She froze when she saw me.
"AHH!" She shrieked, which snapped me out of my sleep.
"Huh– What's wrong?" I asked.
"You– What are you still doing here?" Victoria asked with a blush.
I stretched my arm and rubbed my sore shoulder as she slept there all night long.
"Hyde!" She called again.
"Don't blame me. You're the one who wrapped her arms around me and wouldn't let me go." I replied honestly.
Victoria stammered, her face turned nervous. "We–"
"We didn't do anything. Just slept. You didn't even drink much last night. Why are you acting like I took you in your sleep?" I said with exasperation.
Victoria blushed.
She turned around abruptly, seemingly remembering something.
"You need to go! Now!" She said urgently and pulled me up from the couch.
"Huh? Why? Can't I at least wash my face first?"
"No! The farmers around here wake up really early and go to take care of their business! You need to leave, otherwise people will know you spent the night here!"
As it was a small town, gossip travels fast. A lonely housewife spending the night with her ex? It would be a big story in the town.
I left quickly and drove the truck back to the Formans. I haven't even changed my clothes since yesterday.